Clair Obscur Expedition 33: Paint Cage Locations & Interactive Tracking Guide

Paint Cages are Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's locked container system — the game's equivalent of treasure chests, but sealed by an environmental shooting puzzle rather than a key.

Every Paint Cage requires locating and destroying three hidden locks scattered in the surrounding area before it opens. Opening your first Paint Cage unlocks the Paint Cage achievement.

All confirmed cage and lock positions are pinned on MapMaster's Expedition 33 interactive maps, including individual lock coordinates in the hand-drawn exclusive area maps.

What Are Paint Cages in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?

Paint Cages are visually distinct, locked containers — orange-pink glowing structures found in corridors, on cliffs, and in hidden rooms throughout every act of the game.

They're separate from two other environment-blocking structures players encounter: Paint Spikes (blue-purple root formations blocking paths and hiding Chroma, destroyed by the Paint Break ability from finding 4 Lost Gestrals) and standard glowing loot on the ground.

Paint Cages require no special ability to approach — only the ability to shoot, which is available from the start of the game.

How to Open Paint Cages: The Three-Lock System

Every Paint Cage is sealed by exactly three locks — white-glowing orbs placed in the environment within visual range of the cage.

To open the cage, locate and shoot all three locks using Free Aim. Locks don't need to be hit in any specific order. Once all three are destroyed, the cage dissolves, and the reward becomes collectible.

Locks are intentionally hidden. Common positions include walls directly behind or beside the cage, tree branches overhead, elevated rock formations in the distance, ceilings of enclosed rooms, and inside destructible boxes or wooden crates nearby.

Two practical tips: look up and around in a full 360-degree sweep before concluding a lock isn't there — many sit at extreme angles above the cage. Audio helps too: the locks emit a faint ambient sound when you're within range.

The Flying Waters cage nearest the stone wall has all three locks marked on MapMaster's Flying Waters hand-drawn map, with individual lock coordinates each pinned as a separate entry — the only interactive resource that does this.

Paint Break Required: One Lock Category

Most locks are freely shootable from the moment you enter an area. A small number sit behind Paint Spikes — the blue-purple rock-like formations that require the Paint Break ability to clear.

At least one cage (in The Monolith) has a lock hidden behind a Paint Spike, making Paint Break a prerequisite for fully unlocking it. Paint Break is earned automatically from Sastro at camp after returning 4 Lost Gestrals — see the Lost Gestral guide for all nine Gestral positions.

Paint Cage Rewards: Pictos, Weapons, and Upgrade Materials

Paint Cages contain the best non-combat loot in the game — rewards that don't come from any other source in their area. Confirmed rewards from the tracked and researched locations include:

• Chroma Elixir Shards — the most common reward, increasing your Chroma Elixir capacity. Found in cages across Flying Waters, Ancient Sanctuary, Stone Wave Cliffs, and Forgotten Battlefield.
• Revive Tint Shard — a Tint upgrade material. From the second Flying Waters cage.
• Unique Weapons — the Stone Wave Cliffs farm cage contains Duenum (Maelle). The Old Lumière cage contains Redalim (Lune). The Verso's Drafts cage contains Esquim (Lune). These weapons are Weapons found exclusively inside their Paint Cage — no other acquisition route.
• Exclusive Pictos — the Monolith cage contains Random Defense Pictos. Flying Manor cages contain Powerful Revive and Energising Stun Pictos. The Tainted Sanctuary cage contains Shield Affinity Pictos.
• Grandiose Chroma Catalyst — from the Endless Night Sanctuary cage. See the Chroma Catalyst guide for full upgrade context.

All Paint Cage Locations in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Currently tracked in the checklist:

• Flying Waters — 2 cages (Chroma Elixir Shard, Revive Tint Shard). The first encounter introduces the mechanic.
• Ancient Sanctuary — 1 cage on the upper ledge above the clearing where its locks sit.
• Stone Wave Cliffs — 2 cages, one near the rocks and one on the upper ledge by the stone pillar wall.
• Stone Wave Cliffs Cave — 1 cage between rock formations, with 1 lock on the crystal-shaped formation in the distance, tracked separately in the checklist.
• Forgotten Battlefield — 1 cage in the trenches beside crates.
• Esoteric Ruins — 1 cage by the mountain wall.

Additional confirmed cages in Old Lumière, The Monolith, The Continent (Flying Manor, Endless Night Sanctuary), and Verso's Drafts are being added to the guide — all positions and lock coordinates to be pinned on their respective hand-drawn exclusive area maps as they're tracked.